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Topic: Colby with Merlot Wine?? (Read 1717 times)

Decided to go crazy a couple of weeks ago and experiment. I used a traditional Colby recipe that called for washing the curd in cool, and then cold, water. Instead of the cold water I substituted a chilled bottle of merlot wine with 1000 mg of calcium carbonate added to bring the wines pH in line with the curds. After brining and drying I waxed it to let it age until Christmas. Picture came out bad. The cheese actually looks much nicer. Anyone else ever tried this and, if so, how did it turn out?

Hi Al, I've done it with ale several times but it hasn't been time to open any yet. I also have some strange hybrid rinds going on.....tried to do Alp's traditional Swiss rind but didn't have all his instructions until too late. The last washed curd I did got some beet juice added to the wash water so it's going to have that marbled look when cut open. I also brined that one in a brine colored with onion skin water and beet juice so the outside is a peachy color. That one has the smear that Alp talks about and I hope I can keep it's rind on track.

One thought, in Mary Karlin's book she does a wine soaked cheese and she warns that if not waxed or bagged after it dries that the rind will end up tasting like musty wine cellar and mine does. it's an okay taste though.

Well I opened this one up today for Christmas. It was a bit crumbly with a taste reminiscent of Cheshire. Only a slight taste of the merlot. All in all a good tasting cheese. I'd do this experiment again with different wines. Not sure I'd make a long aging cheese though. Seems to work with the Colby and PH milk. Next time I'll have a better press.

Now this is strange because these were done at the same time and this one was done strictly to the recipe. I did add a little extra cream to both. The normal one was soft, think Velveeta, when I opened it. Its taste is not bad but it doesn't taste like Colby, or cut like it. Really disappointed in this one but I'm sure I must have done something wrong. Perhaps didn't leave it to dry long enough before waxing?

I had the same expirience. I think the red wine overr acidifies the cheese. as nuetrilizing the acidity of the wine to cheese pH will taste horrid I'm thinking one should perhaps under acidify the cheese say your brine\salting pH is at 5.2-5.4 , than start brining at 5.6. (one might consider doing some washing to compensate for the residual lactose this under acidification will bring)

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Amatuar winemaker,baker, cook and musician not in any particular order.

I had the same expirience. I think the red wine overr acidifies the cheese. as nuetrilizing the acidity of the wine to cheese pH will taste horrid I'm thinking one should perhaps under acidify the cheese say your brine\salting pH is at 5.2-5.4 , than start brining at 5.6. (one might consider doing some washing to compensate for the residual lactose this under acidification will bring)

What about flaming the wine first so the alcohol doesn't kill any biotics? Then neutralise it...

If I have my dates right, you cut this cheese 1 month after making it? Could that explain the lack of Colbyness?

I've only made one Colby, which was cut 2 months after making and eaten gradually over the next month. Now maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me, but between the first taste of the cheese on Christmas Eve and the last crumb that I ate in January, it was like a revolution happened within the brick. Sharper, tastier and even a different texture. Again, maybe I just imagined it.

This was about the third cheese I ever made. Not a lot of technical stuff going into it. I just used the Colby recipe and changed the cold water rinse out with a cold merlot rinse. No idea why it did what it did. Maybe one of the cheese experts could tell you more about it.

We did this with both a cheddar and a gruyere. The wine we used was a Syrah reduction sauce. The lady at the vineyard boiled down I think 4 bottles and ended up with one bottle of the reduced sauce. It did mich better with the gruyere than the cheddar.